The problem of radioactive, toxic and hazardous material contamination is of long standing. Presently their exists a lack of adequate equipment and methods for removing contaminated material which exhibit very high radiation levels that would be extremely hazardous or even lethal to working personnel. Many Department of Energy facilities and nuclear power stations have many such areas of contamination which include but are not limited to hot cells, spent fuel processing rooms, refueling cavities and radioactive waste storage areas.
Numerous remote contamination removal units have been proposed such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,345, dated Apr. 17, 1979 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,146, dated Apr. 24, 1984. These known apparatuses however are limited in application because of their restricted construction which embodies a single fixed means of material removal as well as being limited in maneuverability thus directly effecting their performance as well as the safety level required when dealing with highly radioactive and toxic material.